Tears
by R3.0
Summary: Hiei just might be Botan's only sorce of comfort. How will Botan react when they're both in a ruff position and she has a chance that she might lose Hiei forever? Oneshot HB Yes! My first Oneshot ever! Read and Review


Alright, I know a lot of you want me to update my other story "The Darkness Within," but you see, I'm having problems with controlling my urges in that story. I keep having this urge to make Hiei and Botan fall in love so quickly, but they can't even get to the friendship part yet, so this is what I planned to do: 

In order to get over this urge I'm having, I'm going to write my very first one-shot story. Due to the fact I love writing and making things less confusing than they should be, this one-shot fic is going to be extremely long. BUT WHO CARES!!!!!!!! IT'S HIEI/BOTAN!!!!!!!!! I hope you all like it. I sure do. 

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Disclaimer: It's been a while since I've written one. But here it goes. I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, what so ever. If I did, I wouldn't have made Hiei and Kurama so close of friends that people would think they were dating. And Kuwabara wouldn't be as dumb as a doorknob. 

"Quotes" 

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'Thoughts' or 'Dreams' 

((Me talking)) 

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((MY EVIL SIDE TALKING)) 

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Tears

Skitzo-phrenick (YAY!!!! Proof of my first one-shot!)

His katana gleamed under the night sky while it swiftly cut through the air. Stone silence engulfed him as he buried himself deeper into concentration. The forest was a perfect place to practice, so he could concentrate. His strike was slightly off, but only he himself had managed to see it. Of course he had always seen it. There was always something wrong with his strike and he drove himself to perfect it, but every time he succeeded in correcting the mistake, there was always something else wrong. His strike was missing something, but the only problem was finding what it was. 

Hiei could always find peace and freedom when he was off on his own, perfecting his skills. "Hiei." At least he used to be able to. He lowered his katana and glanced in the direction of the voice that had called him. He never had been able to fully look at this peticular person. Every time he saw her, he experienced emotions he had never had for a person before and frankly he hated it. 

His glance had been enough to see Botan standing there behind him. Her hair was cascading down her shoulders and gently blowing due to a warm breeze that had just blown by. He didn't peticularly know why her hair was down, and frankly he didn't care. Her kimono was gradually swaying in the wind as well. The feature that happened to stand out the most to him were the silent tears flowing down her cheeks. Her fragile body was shaking from, what seemed to be, the hard sobbing that she had previously done. It seemed as if the breeze was going to blow her away any second. Her eyes were red and puffy due to the many tears that were now streaming down her face, and she held a hopeful look within her purple orbs. 

This was not the first time he had seen her like this. In fact he had seen the ferry girl in this state many times. For some reason she always chose to come to him with her problems. Honestly, he didn't know why. He never really remembered comforting her, yet she always seemed to come back. What had he done? He never knew. He never did anything really, she just needed him there, he guessed. So without saying a word he continued his training. 

Botan was amazed as she watched him slice away at the air. Every time she watched him, she always felt amazed one way or another. His movements were so swift and beautifully done. It was like a beautiful, yet deadly, art that he had managed to make so elegant. She knew he hated it every time she watched him, but she always felt that she couldn't tear her eyes away. 

"What is it now, Onna?" he curtly said, as he sheathed his katana. So much for comforting, of course, she had never expected more from him. Usually she would give him her story, he would say something smart and comforting without realizing it, and they would be on their separate ways; so what made tonight any different? She had never really wondered why she had chosen to come to him over all the others. Let's see: she wasn't stupid enough to tell Yusuke or Kuwabara, Koenma would tell her to suck it up and get back to work, Keiko would just get extremely angry at whatever caused the problem and never give her a logical answer, Shizuru would tell her to drink all her problems away, Yukina wouldn't truly understand that well, Genkai would just tell her how things get worse when you get older and how easy she's got it now, and lastly Kurama would think of it as an intellectual problem and try to analyze and solve it. She couldn't possibly find comfort from anyone else. 

"Onna, are you still there balling your eyes out?" the impatient koorime asked with his back still turned. He heard her give off a slight moan, answering his question. "Well, what do you want? I want to get this over with as quick as possible." This was true; he felt that her little emotional breakdowns should be the end of him. Also he didn't want to spend too much time with her like this. She seemed so weak and so open, and he worried that someday he might succumb to her patheticness. Every time she came to him like this, he felt his power of his emotions grow weaker. He just might do something unplanned and regretful. ((It's not like that you sick minded people. He's just afraid he might tell her something he doesn't want to or kiss her. Then again kissing her doesn't sound so bad. Hehehehehehehehehe. )) 

"Hiei, why don't you ever look at me when I come to you?" Silence followed closely after the question, and one could almost taste the awkwardness in the air. What was he supposed to say? He had never expected her to ask that. Feeling that it wasn't important and that he didn't have to answer, his all too familiar, "Hn," was his only reply. 

In some sort of strange and bizarre way the ferry girl was satisfied with that answer. She guessed, she didn't want him to say something smart-alecky or hurtful, and if he said something nice she wouldn't know what to say. Kind words had never come from his mouth purposefully. 

A wave of dizziness hit her with a spin, and she slowly began to loose her footing. It seemed that her hard sobbing had taken its toll on her. She would soon be able to no longer stand. 

The demon watched closely as her body began to sway back and forth. He made sure not to focus on her face or head or anything else but her feet. He had noticed long before she had how weak of a state she truly was in. Finally, the moment he had been watching for had come and she gracefully began falling, with her hair swaying all over the place. His mind said not to care, she wasn't going to die if she hit the ground; but something was tugging at him. 

Botan felt her energy gradually coming back to her once she was lying down. Funny, she didn't remember hitting the ground. She felt something shift her, something strong and firm. She was in some bodies arms, someone had prevented her from hitting the ground. She looked up at the owner of the arms that were steadying her to find Hiei looking down on her. She looked into his eyes, hoping to find some sense of worry or care for her, but she was disappointed to find them still emotionless. There was still something different though, he was trembling. Was something wrong? 

He was to close. He was to close. She was in his arms and his barriers to his emotions were falling. He could feel himself succumbing. No! This couldn't be happening to him, Why? Why was Botan having such and effect on him? He wanted to let go he wanted to let her drop, but his body seemed paralyzed. Here he was holding on to his composure and holding back his emotions by a string, and now his body had to have a failure. He began struggling between his emotions and his mind. He had to get away from her, before he lost it. Then it happened. 

She had looked up at him and captured him with her magnificent lavender orbs. Oh-no! Now he was fully looking at her face, something he had been trying to avoid during her past few visits. She had hooked him like a fish. He could no longer keep it in. His walls began crumbling. He would allow her to see one emotion and quickly separate himself from her. The problem was he didn't know which emotion she'd see. 

There it was! She had seen it! A flicker of emotion glimmered in his eyes. There wasn't a huge amount of it but it was enough to decipher the hopeful gaze. Yes, she had seen hope in his eyes. But what was he hopeful for? Surely it had to be an important emotion at the moment. What was he hoping to receive or happen? Whatever it was didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that he had shown her something within him, something he had probably never shown anyone. Was he that comfortable with her now? 

Before Hiei could even defend himself, he found himself in the ferry onna's warm embrace. This was too much for him. Her scent was lingering in the air engulfing him in the sweet smell of lilacs. What was she doing to him? This embrace was too much; he had to do something to stop this madness. After taking one last whiff of her scent, he slowly began pushing away and got up onto his feet. He watched as her face fell and tears began to threaten her eyes. "Don't tell me you expected me to hug you back," came his soothing yet cold voice. She didn't seem to notice his slightly shaky tone behind such sarcastic words. "No," she slowly lifted her face, her eyes still holding the unshed tears, "I can't say that I did." She flashed him a completely transparent, fake smile. "Hiei, can I watch you train?" There was silence afterwards and she felt she needed to continue, "I know you don't like it when I watch, but it makes me feel…" 

"Alright," he intentionally wanted to interrupt her. She had already told him enough of her feelings and emotions, and he felt he couldn't take anymore. She lifted her head up to him, attempting to once again capture his eyes. She wanted him to see her heart. She wanted him to feel her suffering. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and tell her the comforting words she knew he could say. 

She had succeeded. His eyes had locked with hers. He could see all her emotions. The hope in the blue-haired ferry girl's eyes stuck out the most. He could also see her want and hunger. She wanted something to happen. She wanted something from him, and he couldn't tell what it was. The hurt in her eyes was making his heart sink. **((THIS GUY HAS A HEART?!?!?!?!?!?!))** She was showing him to many emotions all at once. He had to fight with himself in order to pull his gaze away; but he had managed. 

Botan watched his back once again as he returned to where he once was. He unsheathed his katana and once again began attacking the air. Nothing but silence was between the two of them. The only sounds that could be heard were the swift movements of Hiei's sword. 

How come he couldn't tell? She had given him all the signs. She had even opened herself up to him, yet he still couldn't see it. Did he not know that he held her very reason for living in the palm of his hands? Did he not see how much she needed him and how he was he only source of comfort? Or was she scaring him away? **((I'LL SAY))** Was she showing him too much of her emotions? **((NO DUH))** ((Shhhh, you're distracting the readers)) **((DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP ***Starts pummeling other self***))** He was her only hope of comfort, yet he had never held her in his arm. Could he not see how much she desperately wanted and needed to be held by him? 

A silent tear gently glided down her face. Maybe she would never receive such comfort. Maybe he didn't trust her enough. Whatever it was didn't matter, all that mattered was that she needed him now. A thought crossed her mind and she willingly spoke it aloud, "I'm a burden to you, aren't I, Hiei?" 

She watched as he stiffened for a moment. "Don't tell me you're doubting yourself again, Onna. It's a foolish waste of time and you do it to much." The ferry girl couldn't help, but give off a sad smile. It was funny how he always could tell how she felt, even when he wasn't looking at her. "You never answered my question." There was no way he was gonna wiggle his way out of this one. 

Tension surrounded them both in a still silence. How was he supposed to answer that question? What was wrong with her tonight? She seemed to be asking him a lot of tough questions. Half of him wanted to tell her the truth, that she wasn't really a burden; and the other half wanted him to lie, telling her that she was getting on his nerves, so he wouldn't have to have an emotional struggle with himself every time he saw her. Which side was he on? He was leaning towards both so he chose something in the middle. "You're not that much of a burden. Your almost even amusing to watch." 

Immediately after he said this, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Botan began sobbing uncontrollably. He glanced behind him to see her once again on her feet, with strength they never knew she had. "So all the stuff you said and the emotions I let you see were only good for your personal amusement?!" Hiei said nothing. He had never meant for her to take it that way. Tears streamed down her face as she silently whispered. "What a mistake I make for believing that you could care for someone other than yourself." With that said she ran away, leaving him in his own awkward silence. 

As Hiei watched her retreating form, he couldn't help but feel pity for her. She was already having an emotional breakdown to begin with, and he had made it worse. He felt no real need to follow after her, because he would eventually meet up with her again. Then he would eventually tell her how wrong she was. He truly felt that there was no need to explain himself, but he didn't want her to wallow in her own pity. 

Awhile later the demon and continued his training. His mind was wondering to thoughts of Botan. No one had ever trusted him as much as she did a moment ago. Maybe that hopeful look in her eyes, that she had shown him, was a certain hope for proof that he was worthy of her trust. And he had let her down. 

Suddenly the silence was pierced with a scream coming from the direction Botan had run. Immediately the thought of the ferry girl had rushed to his head. Was she in danger? Another scream rang out and he had no doubt that is was her. With his demonic speed and his katana in hand, he quickly followed the shrill cries. 

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Shortly after Botan had spoken to Hiei and ran off, she found herself walking in circles. The tears that were in her eyes blinded her and made her quickly lose her sense of direction. She was starting to wish that she had never left Hiei's side. 

The forest was getting scarier and scarier under the night sky. Every tree took on the form of every monster or another, and anything that touched her would cause her to let out a yelp and run the opposite way. At this rate she had no chance of getting home. How had she managed to find Hiei among such a dark forest anyway? "Oh, yeah," she said in her normal Botan-like tone. 

She lifted her hand into the air and summoned her trusty ore, but before she hoped on a voice spoke, "Where do you think you're going? I've been searching for you for a couple weeks now." She turned her tearstained face towards the owner of the voice to see a horrific demon staring at her with hunger in his eyes. 

The demon had purple skin and he was built like a rock. Silver hair draped down his face and covered his red eyes. On top of that he had four long horns sticking out of his head and a slightly large lizards tail hung behind him. Large fangs were protruding out of his mouth as he flashed her an evil grin. 

Fear struck through her as she watched him stalk closer to her, "Wha…What do you want?" her shaky voice spoke. He took two steps forward before answering, "Your devastation smells sweet and thick. I can't wait to taste you." Her eyes shot wide after hearing his words. 

As fast as the ferry girl could, she pulled her ore close, got on it, and attempted to fly off; but that wasn't good enough. The demon had expected her to try and escape and when she did, he froze her. She felt as if she had been completely paralyzed, and not being able to control her body, she gently fell off her ore and watched it dematerialize before her. 

She looked up at him and managed to ask, "How?" The demon smiled a devilish smile down at her. He stepped closer till he was in less than arms reach. She watched in horror as he bent down and began to wipe her tears with his cold, callused hands. "My dear, it was by these that I found you, and was able to stop you from leaving." He watched, as her expression became slightly more puzzled. 

"Still don't get it, eh? Well, I don't think you'll be going anywhere anytime soon, so I guess I can tell you. You see unlike most demons, I thrive off of depression and angst. The more depressed you become, the sweeter and stronger your smell becomes. 

"For many weeks now I have been searching for you with the beautiful scent. But until now, I was not able to pinpoint your exact location. Something very sad and depressing must have happened to you because now your sent is two times as strong as it has ever been." 

Botan's mind raced back to what had happened with Hiei a couple moments ago. She had never really realized how depressed she was then, but now that she thought about it he had broken her. He had managed to gain her trust, and maybe even more; yet he hurt her like no other. She was brought out of the depressing thoughts once the demon said, "Ahhh, there's that beautiful scent again." He quickly realized she was listening and continued on with his story. 

"Anyway, you wanted to know how I paralyzed you?" She nodded slightly. "Well, the more depressed you become, you also become more and more succumb to my power. So because you are depressed you will be devoured." Botan thought this was kind of ironic. She would be the cause of her own death. 

This demon had been unusually nice to her after he had paralyzed her; but why? Any other demon would have tormented her and made sure her death was satisfying its bloodlust, but not this one. "Why…Why…are you…being so nice…to me?" 

"I pity all my food. To die while in depression…Well you'll know soon enough." He took a step closer after saying that and a chill ran up Botan's spine. As if on reflex, she let out a loud scream. "Screaming cannot help you now," she let out another scream, hoping that some miracle would save her. 

Tears began to stream her cheeks as she let out her cries for help. "Nooooo!!! I don't want to die!!!" Ignoring her pleas the demon got on all fours and took his feeding position.

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'Memories began to fill Botan's eyes and all of a sudden she was in a field of flowers. Peace seemed to engulf her as a warm breeze tossed her hair about her face. She looked over the enormous field with a smile on her face. She felt truly happy here. 

A shadowy figure appeared in the distance walking towards her. At first she couldn't see who it was, but the light soon revealed Yusuke Urameshi. "Yusuke!" she ran towards the figure saying, "You won't believe what happened. There was this demon and…" She stopped in mid-sentence once she saw her friend fade away. "Yusuke! Wait! Comeback!" she said she ran through the vanishing figure. 

As she looked about herself she caught another figure in the corner of her eye. This one turned out to be Koenma, but the same thing happened. In fact the same thing happened with Yukina, Keiko, Shizuru, Kuwabara, and Kurama. Then the cycle began over again. 

After the fourth time going through this cycle, Botan had given up hope. Her friends were just images, and figments of her imagination. She was alone in such a beautiful place; alone with only the silence to comfort her. She began to shed her tears once more until one final image appeared. 

Hiei stood there before her, his eyes penetrating her gaze making her feel almost transparent. She immediately began to wipe her tears from her face. "Hiei, I'm glad I'm not alone anymore. You wouldn't believe…" Before she could finish he just turned around and began walking away. "Hiei! Wait! I wasn't finished! I need you right now!" He kept going and the distance between them grew further and further apart until she watched his figure vanish, just like the others had. "No…Hiei."'

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"HIEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" This was it. That had just been Botan's last cry. Tears filled her eyes as the demon's fangs drew closer. She hadn't told Hiei yet. She hadn't told him how she felt yet. She couldn't die now. Not yet. He had to know. 

Botan closed her eyes waiting for her painful death, but nothing came. She opened one eye a crack to see what was holding up her devourer, to see Hiei's arm in side the demon's mouth instead of a chunk of her flesh. Her eyes widened as she watched his blood trickle down his arm. "Hiei," she looked up towards his face to see him suffering from the pain in his arm. He was saving her. Was this proof that he cared? No, he would have done this for anyone of Yusuke's friends. 

Pain shot through him as the demon bit down in his arm, making him drop his katana. With his other arm he managed to punch the demon away from him and Botan. As the demon got over his state of shock from being attacked, the koorime gathered his katana and got in his defensive stance. He had to protect Botan. He didn't know why but he had to.

"Hiei, you came."

"Did you or did you not just call me?" Blush crept onto Botan's cheeks as she remembered that he would have been her last thought. She also remembered that if she would have died, she would have never told him how she felt. "Hiei, I need to tell you something once this is over." His only answer was a silent nod of the head. 

A cackle broke through their silence, "You act if I'm already dead yet," spoke the demon. "Yet," was our favorite demon's reply. Within moments the fight had begun. The demon was a lot better than Hiei had expected. He was not as fast as Hiei, but he had the advantage in brute strength, and they were almost equal when it came to strategy. 

The demon was first to attack. He attempted to cut Hiei in half with the swipe of his claws, but missed most definitely. Hiei was in the air now; he swiftly brought down his katana attempting to slice the demon in two, but the demon had expected it and dodged just barely. The fight had gone on like this for a while now. All attempts, and all failures. 

Botan watched with both wonder and worry. Hiei still managed to look so elegant and graceful in his movements. He seemed to posses a grace she couldn't even dream to have. She watched as Hiei dodged another attack. Again worry possessed her. What if Hiei got hurt? What if they never lived through this night? What if Hiei died? She couldn't bear to thought. She had to put all her hope into Hiei, but still…

Hiei could've sworn the demon had gotten stronger. Where was this demon's strength and energy coming from? He felt his energy rapidly decreasing, but the demon seemed unaffected what so ever. He didn't want to admit it, but his enemy had the upper hand in this battle. 

In a flash the demon was upon him. Where did he get such speed? He attempted to split Hiei's skull, but Hiei had been able to block it with his katana. They were locked in a strength test. One sign of weakness and either fighter could lose their head. The demon used his free arm and attempted to hit Hiei in the stomach, but Hiei had seen it coming. He jumped into the air avoiding the attack; unfortunately the demon followed and sent another attack. The first blow had been made that succeeded. 

Botan watched in horror as Hiei fell to the ground, his katana still in hand. Oh-no! Hiei was dead! And now she was all alone. This was going to be her last night alive. Hiei was dead! She couldn't live with out Hiei around to tolerate her. She couldn't live with herself if she never told him how she felt. Tears stung her eyes as she cried his name, "HIEI!!!!!!" 

As if on cue, a groan could be heard, and Botan watched as Hiei lifted himself off of the ground. He could feel the demon growing stronger. Something wasn't right. Something was feeding this demon his power. He had to find out what it was; this fight was becoming a nuisance. He reached for the bandana that covered his jagan, but before he could pull it off, the demon attempted to attack him again. 

He had barely been able to dodge that. He even felt his enemy's fist brush against his skin. Where was this strength coming from? He quickly jumped up and landed in a tree. With extreme haste he removed his bandana and used his jagan. 

Sure enough, there was something in the air that was giving the demon its strength. A haze of something was surrounding him, but where was it coming from? His eye followed the trail of substance that was floating in the air. It landed on Botan. Botan was giving the demon his power? Another attack came for him, and he quickly dodged. He had to get closer to Botan and see what she was doing to give him his strength. 

This fight wasn't turning out well. Botan felt that something was wrong. Something wasn't right. From her point of view, Hiei was losing. He hadn't been able to land a single strike yet the demon was landing a couple every once in a while. Hiei was in danger. They were both going to die. 

Hiei had managed to get closer and closer to Botan. He could see the look of worry in her eyes. Was she worrying over him? The demon took advantage of the distracted koorime, and attacked him. Hiei slid on the ground and stopped right before Botan. "Hiei," he heard her whisper his name. He looked up towards her to see her crying. Was she crying over him? Impossible. She couldn't be. He looked closer at her to see that the haze causing the demon's strength to increase was coming from her, but it was mostly emitting from her tears. Was her depression and devastation the source of the demon's power? 

The demon took advantage of Hiei's loss of concentration once again, and took the time to jump into the air and land over Hiei's mid-section. He attempted to punch Hiei in the face, but Hiei had been able to bring up his katana and block it. The demon put his other fist onto the katana and began to push down with the force of his weight and strength. 

Botan watched in horror as the scene played out before her. Hiei was having trouble holding back the demon, and neither of them knew how long he would hold out. She couldn't take anymore of this. She wouldn't be able to handle watching Hiei dying before her, and she was unable to do anything because her body had succumbed to the paralyzing spell. This was all her fault. If she hadn't been wallowing in her own sorrow, she might be able to move and do something to help the fire demon fighting before her. "Hiei, …I'm sorry…If I didn't feel…depressed…all the time…this would've…never…happened." 

The demon's strength was increasing drastically now. Botan was feeding it more energy. He had to stop her. He had to make her less depressed, but how? He never really meant to comfort her before, and now that he needed too, he had no idea what to do. Then he heard it, Botan's whisper of an apology to him. She was blaming herself for this. He had to say something, "Botan." 

It was weird saying her name. He never had really called her by her real name before. He was sure that she was just as surprised as he was. He tried to continue, still fighting off the demon over him, "Stop blaming yourself for something that's not your fault. I chose to fight, you didn't chose for me. I could have let you die, but I didn't. So quit blaming yourself for other people's decisions. Quit sobbing over something you didn't do." He didn't want to say more than that. He felt that he had said enough. He just hoped she wouldn't be depressed anymore. Then he could destroy this demon. 

Hiei's words kept replaying themselves in her mind. It wasn't her fault? He could have let her die? He didn't let her die? Did that mean he cared for her? Did he want her to live and be happy? She watched as Hiei struggled to hold off the demon. He was fighting to save her. He was fighting for her. 

She couldn't help the smile that came to her face. He did care for her. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe there was still a chance that he could hold her the way she had always wanted him to. She would give anything to receive such comfort from him. Anything. She couldn't lose hope. Not now. Not ever. Hiei cared for her that's all that mattered. She wouldn't die. She was meant to live a happy life, and Hiei would always be there, as a friend or more, to comfort her. 

She moved to wipe her tears away, and felt much better now that her face wasn't wet with tears. Wait a minute! She moved! Quickly she sat up not removing her eyes from the two fighting demons before her. Now she could do it! Now she could try and help Hiei. 

As soon as the thought had crossed her mind, she rose to her feet and summoned her ore. The two demons still were unable to notice her, that is until she spoke. "Hey! You!" she waited and watched as both Hiei and the demon looked towards her, "Leave us alone!" With that said she hit the startled demon with her ore. Unprepared for the blow from the ferry girl, the demon received the full impact and got off of Hiei to nurse his now aching shoulder and neck. 

Once he was freed, the koorime jumped up off the ground and took his defensive stance between Botan and the demon. He scrutinized his enemy as he held the area that had been hit by Botan's ore. There was something strange about how much pain the demon was in. Botan hadn't hit him that hard, but yet he stood there before them writhing in pain. Any demon with the power this demon had could take the little whack Botan had given. 

A shrill cry came from the demon startling both over-lookers. What was going on? "AHHHH!!!! This smell!!! This horrible smell!!!" was all the demon said before frantically swatting at his face until blood was oozing all over the place. Had this demon lost his mind? 

Botan felt she couldn't watch any more of this so she covered her eyes in the back of Hiei's shoulder. A tingling sensation ran throughout them both once they made contact, and much to their surprise Hiei did nothing to push her away. He just stood there in silence watching his enemy lose his mind, while letting Botan take comfort onto his shoulder. 

Hiei was enjoying both things that were going on around him. He would never admit it, but Botan hiding herself in his shoulder was kind of relieving to him. Maybe it was because he had done what he set out to do. He had protected Botan, and now she was safely behind him taking shelter from the gruesome suffering happening before them. Also being the murderous and ironic demon he was, he took enjoyment into watching his enemy suffer. Sure it was gruesome and bloody, but it was satisfying none the less. A sign of victory. **((I AGREE WITH THIS GUY!!!! GRUESOME = SATISFYING!!!!))**

The fire demon would have let this little scene continue if he hadn't felt Botan grip his shirt and mumble a few choice phrases like, "Please, make it stop," and, "No more." So within a few seconds he unsheathed his katana and put the demon out of it's misery. **((AAAWWWW!!!! I WAS ENJOYING THAT TOO!!!!))**

Once it was over he realized how much energy he used and felt his body grow weak. A large tree caught his eye, and he chose to sit and lean against it. He took his place and had his now sheathed katana lean across his shoulder. ((You know, like how Inuyasha sits with his sword.)) 

Nothing but Hiei's hard breathing could be heard, as the two sat in silence. The past few moments were replaying in their heads. Sure, they had defeated yet another tough demon, but what were really sticking out in their minds were their reactions towards one another. He had protected her, saved her life, comforted her purposefully, let her take comfort in him, enjoyed her company, and even gave her a huge hint that he might actually care for her. She on the other hand accepted all of it with open arms and even apologized to him for all the problems she caused. Almost everything was out in the open now. 

Hiei tilted his head back until it was also leaning on the tree he was sitting under and shut his eyes, taking in the silence surrounding him. He would never admit it but he was thoroughly exhausted. It felt so comfortable to just sit there in silence. 

Suddenly pain shot through his arm and he let out a wince of agony. He almost forgot about that wound. He had let himself get injured in order to save Botan. He guessed, this meant that he did in fact care for the onna more than he knew. "Sorry," he heard her soft voice whisper. He looked down at his arm to watch her hands attempt to wipe the excess blood off of his wound with a piece of her kimono. 

He lifted his head to see her concentrating really hard as she attempted to do what she could to cleanse his wound. Sweat began to drip from her delicate brow, and he watched with interest. Soon she threw away the bloody piece of cloth and ripped away another part of her pink kimono. This one she used as a bandage to rap around his arm. He wasn't really fond of the idea of wearing a pink bandage, but none the less he still let her put it on him. Already he felt better. 

Figuring she was done he attempted to take his arm back, but she grabbed it, stopping him. He watched her wearily as she placed her delicate hands once again over his wound. This time a white glow surrounded his arm, emitting from her hands. She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. Within moments his pain became soothing and simply vanished. She was using her white magic ((I'll explain at the end)) on him. Hold on. Didn't white magic need holy water? She was doing this without holy water, meaning she was using her energy to fuel her power, and this process took up a lot of energy. 

Just as he thought, she began to waver. She was using too much energy, yet she still insisted on healing him. After holding herself steady for a while, she finally submitted to her lack of energy. She felt her body weaken and he watched as she gracefully began to fall. He did nothing to prevent her from falling on him. In fact she fell onto his shoulder as if she was giving him another one of her hugs. 

"Hiei," she silently whispered. He could tell that sleep was overwhelming her at the moment. Any moment now she would fall asleep, and on his shoulder no doubt. It didn't matter to him at the moment. He really wanted to know what the ferry onna was going to say next. Giving her the sign that he was listening he let out a, "Hn." A smile he couldn't notice, because her head was buried in his neck, crept onto her face; and she barely managed to speak the last few words. "I…love you…Hiei." After weakly saying those words her lack of energy took its toll on her, and she quickly went unconscious. 

Her steady breathing became his sign that she was asleep now. With as little effort as possible, so not to cause too much pain, he lifted his wounded arm around her. How was he supposed to react now? Maybe he should have known it before hand. He should have realized her infatuation with him before it got to far and her feelings were returned. With his other hand he lifted her head up so she could face him. It should have been obvious. He didn't realize it until it was to late that they had been falling for each other. 

His face drew closer to hers. He was once again swimming in her wonderful lilac scent. Before he could register what he was doing, his lips brushed against hers. A tingling warmth took over his lips. This was definitely a new sensation for him. Wait a second!!! What in the three worlds was he doing?! Before he let himself do anything else. He set her head back down in the crook of his neck and watched as she cuddled closer to him. Letting her rest there he leaned his head onto hers and slowly drifted to sleep. Only after silently whispering into her ear, "I guess the feeling's mutual." 

……….Fin………

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YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! IT IS DONE!!!!!!! Boy, what a long one-shot that was. I guess I still have to get used to this whole one-shot thing. That was long enough to be about 2-3 chapters. WOW!!!! Are my arms tired. Well I enjoyed writing this so I hope all you readers enjoyed reading it. I think I'm over the whole trying-to-get-them-together thing that I was going through. Who knows? Maybe another one of those little phases will appear again. 

Now I'm off to work on "The Darkness Within." I hope you all enjoyed this. Tell me if I should do another one. I need to know if I'm a good one-shot writer. After all this is my first one. Review and I might have another one of my weird phases again. ^_^ 

OH!!! About the "White Magic" If you've ever read the manga. Hiei explained it when Botan tried to prevent Keiko from becoming a demon and possessing the Jagan. You know that electric stuff that came out of Botan's hand while Yusuke was fighting Hiei for the first time. In the manga Hiei explained that it took a lot of energy for her to do that without the holy water. 


End file.
